


Baby, Don't Cry

by The_Faeries_Requiem



Series: The Annus Collection [5]
Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Chen Le is now a mermaid, Fluff, Gay, How Do I Tag, I Tried, I'm Bad At Tagging, I'm Sorry, M/M, Not Beta Read, Trans Male Character, What Was I Thinking?, mermaid au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-04
Updated: 2021-03-04
Packaged: 2021-03-17 20:08:21
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 621
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29846835
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/The_Faeries_Requiem/pseuds/The_Faeries_Requiem
Summary: Chenle was always being told that he was too curious for his own good.
Relationships: Zhong Chen Le/Original Male Character(s)
Series: The Annus Collection [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2141937
Kudos: 1





	Baby, Don't Cry

Chenle was always being told that he was too curious for his own good. The other mermaids in his pod looked down upon him for it. He’d swim as close as he dared to anything from the world above as the older mermaids shook their heads. His purple hair flouncing in the water around him as he watched on awestruck.

There was a cove near where his pod stayed that Chenle particularly loved. He’d never seen any humans go anywhere near it so he knew it was safe. At least once a day, his powerful purple tail propelled him into the cove where he could spend his afternoon watching humans on the beach.

He could learn more about them by watching them rather than listening to the horror stories older mermaids told.

Then again, he supposed he was more open minded because he had a human friend. A human that had met him in his cove just over a year ago. His name was Julian.

Julian had always told Chenle he was different from other humans. Chenle wasn’t quite sure what he meant. Just that he was different. Chenle didn’t exactly know how different he was. He thought he meant other humans would hunt him down or hurt him. This was true, but also not what Julian meant.

Chenle found out what he meant one weekend in late summer.

The mermaid hadn’t seen his human friend all summer. Which worried the mermaid as they normally meet daily. So with Julian being gone for months, the poor mermaid was distraught.He started to question whether his friend had really been a friend. Or were all humans like the stories older mermaids had told?

Then, one day he swam to the cove with a heavy heart and Julian was there. The pale man’s back was turned towards the mouth of the cove. And it was bare. Chenle, though friends with Julian for a full year, had never seen him without a shirt.

“Julian?” he called out timidly, not noticing his friend’s hunched shoulders.

Julian didn’t turn around. Instead, the whole cove filled with quite sobs. Oh. Chenle swam as fast as he could to where his friend was sat quivering.

“Jules? What’s wrong?” Chenle asked, gently laying a webbed hand on the boy’s bare back.

Julian turned to face Chenle slowly, raising his arms to his chest. He was covering something or hiding something. And that something seemed to be the cause of his distress. Softly, Chenle pulled Julian’s arms away, rubbing them in a comforting manner as he did so.

Scars. Faded, but they were there. Two large ones on his chest. Chenle cocked his head, confused. Had someone hurt Julian?

Julian was still crying. In a split second decision, Chenle decided to focus on calming Julian down than the male marks marring his skin. He began to sing quietly, his voice distracting Julian from being sad.

After a couple of songs, the boy’s tears stopped.

“What’s wrong, Jules?” Chenle asked again.  
“They stole my shirt and told me I wasn’t a real boy. Just cause I was assigned the wrong gender at birth doesn’t mean I’m any less of a boy though, right Lele?”

Ah, Chenle understood now and quickly shook his head. How could humans be so cruel to one another?

Julian’s green eyes brimmed with tears again. Chenle pulled him closer and kissed the blond boy on his temple. All the while Julian cried, Chenle whispered, “baby, don’t cry,” hoping it’d make him feel better. And it did and he flushed red, which he was quick to blame on the fact he’d just been crying. Julian’s secret crush on his best friend, the mermaid, could wait for another day.


End file.
